January 27, 2015 AT 2:00 pm

Hear the Year 2014 Through a Data-Driven Instrument #ArtTuesday

To create the piece, HUSH used five different metrics to summarize the year 2014: Computers in Use, Images Made, Positive Sentiments, Travel Time, and Late Night Food. After plotting their results on 52 different five-axis graphs, creating a small tower whose amoeba-like curves tell the stories of rough, Red Bull-filled nights and days spent jet-setting on business trips, each week’s data was then converted into sounds that are activated by motion detectors within the sculpture’s body. When someone runs a hand along each week’s worth of data, for example, the sculpture chimes like its layers are the keys of a piano. The effect is almost like that of a theremin, but instead of vocalizing frequency and amplitude based on the player’s proximity to the instrument, each note represents a quantified part of HUSH’s year.